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I joined back in May last year through an article I found on https://fossbytes.com (thanks a bunch!), joined and was immediately addicted. The community was still very tiny back then and I’ve got to say that getting upvotes was also not the easiest :P. But, I finally found a place where I could rant out my dev related frustrations: awesomeness. I very much remember how, at first, reaching 1K was my biggest devRant dream and it seemed to be freaking impossible. Then I reached 1K and that was such a big achievement for me! Then the ‘dream’ (read these kind of dreams (upvotes ones) as things that would be awesome to reach not just for the upvotes but for participating, commenting, ranting, discussing and so on within the community, so as in, it shows your contribution) became 10K which seemed even more impossible. Then I reached 10K and 20K seemed freaking impossible but I got there a little faster and from that point on it’s been going fast as hell!

It’s always been a dream for me to become a very big but also ‘respected’ or especially well known user/person somewhere because that pretty much never happened and well, having dreams isn’t wrong, is it?

The biggest part of that dream, though, was that it would be a passion of mine that would get me there but except for Linux, the online privacy part was something I always deemed to be ‘just impossible’. This because irl I ALWAYS get (it’s getting less though) ridiculed for being so keen on my privacy and teaching others about it. People find me very paranoid right away but the thing is that if they ask me to explain and I actually present evidence for my claims, it’s waved away as if it’s nothing. (think mass surveillance, prism, encrypted services, data breaches and so on)
I never thought I’d find any other people who would have the same views as I do but fucking hell, I found them within this community!

Especially the fact that I’ve grown this much because of my passion is something I am proud of. It’s also awesome to see that I’m not the only one who thinks like this and that I’ve actually find some of you on here :)

So yeah, thanks to everyone who got me where I am now!

Also a big thanks to sir Dfox and Trogus for putting your free time into making this place happen.

Love you peoples <3 and to anyone ‘close’ on here I forgot, if you match any of the comments as for privacy/friendliness etc, don’t worry, those nice things also apply to you! My memory just sucks :/

P.S. Please do NOT comment before I comment that I’m done with commenting because I’ve got a lot of comments coming :D

As per our conversation, here is an invoice for the work you requested on behalf of U.S. Bloom. I realize that you ended up going with another designer, but you did request samples of what my take on the logo design would be. The following line item is indicative of 1 hour of graphic design consultation as per your request via Skype.

As I recall, you mentioned that this is not how Upwork "works" but considering it was you who requested that I converse with you via Skype instead of via the Upwork messenger, and since there were no clear instructions on how to proceed with Upwork after our initial consultation, It is assumed that you were foregoing Upwork altogether to work with me directly, thus the invoice from me directly for my time involved in the project. I would have reached out to you via Skype, but it seems that you may have severed our connection there.

After spending a little time researching your company, I could not find current information for Basic Media Marketing, but I was able to reach out to your former partner Not A. Twat, who was more than helpful and suggested that he would encourage you to pay for the services rendered.

It is discouraging that you asked for my help and I delivered, but when I ask for compensation in return for my skills, you refused to pay and have now taken your site offline and removed me as a contact from Skype.

{[CLIENT of CLIENT]},

I am sorry that I have bothered you with this email. I copied you on it merely for transparency's sake. I am sure that your logo is great and I am sure whatever decision was made is awesome for your decision. I just wanted to make sure that you weren't getting "samples" of other people's work passed off as original work by Twat Media Marketing.

I can't speak for any of the other candidates, but since Twat asked me to conduct work with him via Skype rather than through Upwork, and since he's pretty much a ghost online now, (Site Offline, LinkedIn Removed or Blocked, and now Skype blocked as well) one has to think this was a hit and run to either crowdsource your logo inexpensively or pass off other artist's work as his own. That may not be the case, but from my perspective all signs are pointing to that scenario.

Here is a transcript. Some of his messages have been redacted.

As you can clearly see, requests and edits to the logo were being made from Jon to me, but he thinks it's a joke when I ask about invoicing and tries to pass it off as an interview. Do you see any interview questions in there? There were no questions about how long I have been designing, what are my rates, who have I done work for in the past, or examples of my previous work. There were none because he didn't need them at this point.

He'd already seen my proposal and my Behance.net portfolio as well as my rates on Upwork.com. This was a cut to the chase request for my ideas for your logo. It was not just ideas, but mock designs with criticism and approval awaiting. Not only that, but I only asked for an hour of compensation. After looking at the timestamps on our conversation, you can clearly see that I spent at least 3 hours corresponding with Twat on this project. That's three hours of work I could have spent on an honest paying customer.

I trust that TWATCLIENT will do the right thing. I just wanted you guys to know that I was in it to do the best design I could for you. I didn't know I was in it to waste three hours of my life in an "interview" I wasn't aware I was participating in.

Reply from ClientClient:

Hello Sir,
This message is very confusing?
We do not owe your company any money and have never worked with you before.
Therefore, I am going to disregard that invoice.

Reply from TWATCLIENT's boss via phone:

I have two problems with this. One I don't think your business practices are ethical, especially calling MY client directly and sending them an invoice.

Two why didn't you call or email Jon before copying my client on the email invoice?

Me: Probably because he's purposely avoiding me and I had no way to find him. I only got his email address today and that was from a WHOIS lookup.

Really, you don't think my business practices are ethical? What about slavery? Is that ethical? Is it ethical to pass of my designs to your client for critique, but not pay me for doing them?

This is the services that Uhssup will provide :
1. Downloadable software in the nature of a mobile application for displaying and sharing a user's location, and finding and locating other users; Computer software for use in social networking, namely, software for displaying and sharing a user's location and finding, locating, and interacting with other users; computer software for use in searching, transmitting, receiving, storing, accessing, finding, organizing and viewing geographic location information and providing content based on location; Software; Application software for smart phones.

2. Design and development of computer software; Platform as a service (PAAS) featuring computer software platforms for use in displaying and sharing a user's location, and finding and locating other users; Application service provider (ASP) featuring software for use in displaying and sharing a user's location, and finding and locating other users; Providing on-line non-downloadable software for displaying and sharing a user's location, and finding and locating other users.

When we speak to parents and carers, we encourage them to have ongoing conversations with their children about the safe and responsible use of technology. We also have guides to help parents set up parental control tools. It’s important for parents to find out more about the different sites, apps and devices their children use, and consider the different online risks that young people may face, such as ‘content’ risks like pornography or violence, ‘contact’ risks such as cyberbullying or grooming, and ‘conduct’ risks such as sharing too much information or sexting. We cover some of the main risks in our ‘hot topics’ section.

- Where is the best place to report online threats and where would you advise parents or teachers to go first? At what point should parents and teachers involve the police?

If young people are bullied or threatened online, it’s really important that they tell a trusted adult, such as a parent or teacher. They should save the evidence by taking screenshots, and remember that it’s best not to retaliate or reply. Most social networks and other services have reporting mechanisms where you can report bullying and abuse. Blocking tools are also helpful to prevent people from making further contact.

Involving the school is really important, as they will be able to respond to the issue in accordance with the school’s anti-bullying policy and provide the young person with support. If schools need help in responding to the issue and escalating concerns to sites like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or Instagram, then they can contact the Safer Internet Centre helpline for professionals.

- Your website states that members of your Education team can come in and do e-safety presentations for teachers. Can you tell us a little bit about what these would cover?

Every week we’re in schools across the US, speaking to children, parents, carers and teachers. Our teacher sessions aim to make sure that school staff feel equipped to safeguard children online. We help them to understand potential online risks and how young people use technology, as well as how to respond to online safeguarding concerns..

It’s important to empower teachers with the tools to teach their own internet safety lessons. We show them exactly how to do that by showcasing our wealth of online resources. Schools that want a taster can watch our free INSET presentation. This includes supporting materials so it can be delivered by your school’s e-safety lead.